Bonn, 1 September 2008: Last week’s meeting in Bali, Indonesia, of the signatories to the UNEP/CMS Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of Dugongs (Dugong dugon) included a ceremony at which representatives of Comoros, Kenya and Philippines signed the agreement. These three signatures bring the total number of countries involved in the initiative to eleven, less than a year after it was finalised in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Participants summarised the conservation challenges and priorities in their countries and discussed a mechanism for funding future activities. Terms of reference for project funding were agreed and a simple system which will allow Range States to apply for grants will be elaborated. Further details will be posted on the CMS website in due course.

The most exciting news was the welcome and generous offer from Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) to provide full funding for the operations of the MoU, including the establishment of a secretariat to service the Dugong agreement. Details of the offer, which had been circulated to interested States earlier in the year, were spelled out in a paper tabled at the meeting. The EAD offer also foresees the creation of a sub-regional coordination unit for the northwestern area of the Indian Ocean and South East Asia Marine Turtle MoU (CMS/IOSEA) and additional staff to service the CMS Raptor Agreement currently under negotiation. Delegates welcomed the EAD offer, which will inject some USD 3.4 million into CMS-related activities over the first three years of the arrangement.

Executive Secretary, Robert Hepworth, who attended the meeting described the Emirate’s offer as “extremely generous” and said it would provide a springboard for success for two of the ten CMS regional agreements negotiated since the last CMS COP in 2005, as well as relieving future budgetary pressures on both the Convention and IOSEA.

The photo above shows Philippine Ambassador H.E. Vidal Erfe Querol signing the Dugong Agreement in the presence of CMS Executive Secretary, Robert Hepworth, and CMS Senior Advisor, Douglas Hykle

The Dugong meeting was held back-to-back with the Fifth Meeting of IOSEA Signatory States during the period 19-23 August 2008. A total of one hundred delegates from 30 countries attended the combined events.